tutti frutti almond biscuits

It was our first wedding anniversary on Monday. I had planned a midnight Sunday surprise for my husband. A post dinner coffee with greeting cards hanging from the ceiling and the entire place lit with candles and the room filled with the fragrance of fresh flowers. I planned to bake him crispy tutti frutti biscuits that he could enjoy dunking in his cup of tea or coffee.

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Saturday morning

Since Sunday was an off and I had wanted my biscuits to be a surprise, I planned to bake them on Saturday morning. That day, we already had plans of going out post lunch, therefore I had very less time to bake and do other things. As soon as my husband left for work, I rushed to the nearby market to get my packet of tutti frutti from the market. I finished other chores related to the market, got back and collected my ingredients in one place. Now, unlike some cookies these tutti frutti biscuits are really simple to make and do not require a long list of items. All it needs is some butter, all-purpose flour, sugar and milk to make the basic dough.

I mixed the butter and sugar together and splashed a few droplets of vanilla extract in it. I, then, added the all-purpose flour to it and brought it all together till it resembled wet sand. I tipped in my cheery cherry coloured tutti frutti into the mix. For a bit of extra taste and crunch I popped in crushed almonds and then added just enough milk to bind it all together to form dough. It is as simple as this.

The dough was then divided into two parts and rolled into logs. I covered them with cling foil and put them in the freezer for an hour. Meanwhile, I pampered myself with a hair massage:p (read: multitasking). After an hour, I put the oven to preheat at 180 degrees Celsius while I took the logs out which were firm by then. I cut them into two centimetres thick discs. I buttered the tray and placed the biscuits on it. The tray was then shoved into the oven for 15 minutes. Once the biscuits were golden brown around the edges, I knew it was time to take them out. I then transferred the biscuits on a rack to let them cool.

They looked beautiful and tempting and the room whiffed of their fruity vanilla aroma. I could not wait to surprise my husband.

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Now, due to a crazy Saturday night with friends, my Sunday was spent in bed with no energy to move even a finger out of the quilt and hence the midnight surprise got thrown out of the window and was stashed into the bin (sigh!:( ).

BUT, since I am too much of the surprise type, I did not give up hope. I woke up early on Monday morning (our anniversary), and ferreted out a tray from the kitchen drawer. I got a glass in place, filled it half way with water and dropped in some white gladiolus flowers into it. I then arranged the biscuits in a white glass plate and positioned one (out of three) greeting cards on the tray and finished the arrangement by placing two cups of steaming hot tea.

I woke up my dear husband with the well put up tray by his side. He smiled and got out of the quilt. With his hair all ruffled up and his eyes looking sleepy small he read the card and took the first bite of the biscuits. He was expecting the biscuits to be like soft mushy cookies and hence his first reaction was “they are nice, but aren’t they slightly hard?” To this, I giggled and told him that these weren’t cookies but crunchy and crispy biscuits which are to be enjoyed plunging them into your drink. I had tasted one myself and knew that they were good but I still was waiting for my husband’s verdict on it. I was glad to know that he liked them. I had stuck one card on the bed post and the other one on the bathroom’s mirror to surprise him and make him smile at every step. Our anniversary hence started with a sweet crunchy kick to keep us going for the entire day.

Everyone else in the family also enjoyed (still enjoying) the biscuits with tea. My father-in-law found them professionally baked (yayiiee!!).

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Here is how you can get your own share of tutti frutti almond biscuits.

tutti fruitti almond biscuits

Ingredients

6 tbsp butter

1 cup all-purpose flour

4-5 drops of vanilla extract

½ cup sugar

A fistful of tutti frutti

A fistful of almonds

Milk as per requirement

Steps to be followed to get your own biscuits:

Mix the butter and sugar well, add a few drops of vanilla essence and whisk it all well.

Drop in all-purpose flour and bring it all together with your hands, till the mixture resembles wet sand.

Now add a fistful of tutti frutti and crushed almonds to the mixture.

Pour just enough milk to bring the mixture together to form dough.

Divide the dough in two parts and form one log from each.

Roll and cover these logs in a cling foil and freeze them for an hour.

After an hour, put the oven to preheat at 180 degrees Celsius.

Meanwhile, cut the logs into discs (1-2 cm thick).

Butter the oven tray and place the discs on it and shove the tray into the oven.

Bake for 10-15 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius till the edges are golden brown.

Transfer the biscuits onto the rack and let them cool.

Note:

It is not necessary to bake both logs in one shift. You can freeze them and bake them even after a few days.

You can customise these biscuits by adding chocolate chips or other nuts to it.